Alternate Danganronpa V3: Multiplicity Game
by GKinni
Summary: 16 students are trapped in a school and forced to play a death game. Except this one is different: Complete tasks and defeat challenges to earn points and accomplish objectives, but be wary of the Wolf in your midst.
1. Multiplicity Game

Chapter 1 – Multiplicity Game

Darkness.

That was the only thing Tenko Chabashira could see. And silence was the only thing she could hear.

She felt like she was in a dream, while being aware that she was definitely awake. It was a strange feeling.

Tenko moved her hands forward, and stumbled due to a sudden light blinding her. She fell to the ground, and blinked to try and recover her sight.

"Are you okay?" She heard a concerned voice.

Looking up, she saw the owner of the voice, A beautiful girl with gray eyes and hair.

"I'm... not hurt." She managed to say.

The girl extended a black gloved hand to Tenko, who took it and got back on her feet.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Tenko reverted to her usual mode of operation, and quickly looked around the room, taking note of every detail she could.

They were inside some sort of classroom, except that it had clearly not been used for a long time, and apparently she had been trapped inside a locker. Having obtained some measure of understanding of her situation, Tenko turned her attention back to the girl.

Every single piece of her seemed to radiate elegance. She was wearing a black and white dress, and had a tiara in her short hair. Her gloves and boots also seemed to be high quality, and even the way she stood gave the same impression. She was certainly not the sort of girl you could see everyday.

Tenko looked back at herself to see if there was anything different about her own appearance, but it didn't appear to be the case. She was still wearing the same overcoat and pants she always did, and her hair was still tied in a ponytail. That done, it was time to address the elephant in the room.

She decided to start by introducing herself:

"Hello. My name is Tenko Chabashira. I'm an Ultimate student, with the talent of Ultimate Detective." She did her introduction exactly like her teacher had always instructed, including even a small bow of the head.

The girl smiled and made her own introduction "My name is Kirumi Toujou. Like you, I am also an Ultimate student. In my case, the Ultimate Entomologist."

Tenko took a moment to marvel at the fact that even her introduction was full of elegance, before something hit her.

"Wait... You're the Ultimate Entomologist?" She asked, incredulous.

"This is a common reaction when I talk about my talent." Kirumi said, with her tone showing that she didn't draw offense "It's a bit of an interesting story. I was raised to be the perfect rich daughter, but I ended up getting interested in the small insects that I could see in the mansion, since I wasn't allowed outside all that often."

She smiled again, this time in fond remembrance "I eventually managed to get my parents to allow me to go out and look for bugs, on the condition that I wouldn't get dirty, my clothes wouldn't get messed up and all that." She shrugged "I guess they were trying to discourage me, but it didn't work. It took a lot of effort, but I slowly learned more and more about bugs, and even found a few new species, which earned me that title."

"That's amazing." Tenko gave her honest opinion "In my case, I was actually helped to become the Ultimate Detective. My teacher found me when I was young, and he taught me everything he knew about observation and deduction." Tenko nodded "He is a famous consultant detective, and eventually he started letting me help in his cases, until I managed to solve a few on my own, and gained my title."

"That's interesting." Kirumi said, then her expression became serious "But I guess that we should talk about the most important point: Where are we, and how have we gotten here?"

Tenko closes her eyes for a moment in order to collect her thoughts, before talking "You saw me come out of this locker, and I imagine that you woke up on the other one." Kirumi nodded "This place appears to be a classroom that hasn't been used for a long time, and the fact that the windows are blocked is strange." Tenko put a finger on her forehead and thought hard "About how I got here... I have no idea. My last memories are of normal days in the office, together with teacher, and I can't think of a way I could have come here..."

"So, it's the same as me." Kirumi said "I also don't remember anything that could indicate how I ended up here... What do you think that means?"

Tenko nodded "If that is the case, there's no way this is a coincidence. Two Ultimates waking up in a strange place without any memory of how they had gotten there? I don't have enough information to create any theories, but this is definitely an important piece of evidence."

"I agree." She said, looking at the door "I think we should leave and investigate the rest of this place. Do you want to come?"

"Thank you." Tenko nodded "Let's go, then."

The two left the classroom and started exploring the surroundings. Tenko had just thought that the school indeed looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, when she got blindsided by a completely unexpected event.

A small black and white bear, that looked like a stuffed animal, suddenly slid out from behind a corner at high speed. He opened his mouth and shouted:

"Heloooooooo, new students!"

"Ah! It's a talking stuffed animal!" Was Tenko's reaction.

"My name is Monokuma, thank you very much!" He spoke angrily, before smiling "I am the Headmaster of this Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, and I've come to greet you!"

"Headmaster?" Tenko asked "So you're the one responsible for this? Then where are we? How have we come here? What do you plan to do with us?" She tried to get information out of the self-proclaimed "headmaster".

"Ah, you don't need to be so uptight, little miss Ultimate Detective." He spoke in a teasing tone "Everything will be explained soon. I only came here to greet you two and give you these."

He took out two tablet computers from... somewhere "Ta-Daaa! Those are the Monopads! They are essential tools for a fulfilling school life."

Tenko took one of them while Kirumi took the other. She touched around and on the screen, but failed to find a way to make it activate "Wait, how do I use that?" She asked.

"You don't need to worry." Monokuma spoke "They aren't activated yet, but when they are, the manner of use is pretty easy to understand." He crossed his arms "As for when they will be activated... Well, it won't take long. Soon, I'll send a message to the Monopads for you Ultimates to gather for the opening speech, after which you will have full control. Until then, why don't you explore the rest of the school and meet your classmates?"

Having said his piece, Monokuma proceeded to disappear on the same way he had appeared. Leaving the two girls alone.

"It seems like we are not the only students here." Kirumi said "So it seems like the others are Ultimates too."

"Considering that he called this place 'Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles', I think it would be strange were that not the case." Tenko answered "Which makes this situation even stranger. Because a force capable of gathering a high number of Ultimates in such a way is definitely not something average."

"Then... I guess we should keep exploring." Kirumi said "It's not like it would hurt, right?"

Tenko nodded, and the two returned to their exploration. They checked around the other rooms, initially finding them empty, until at last, they found a room with two other people inside. Though one of them looked a bit strange...

The two got startled upon seeing Tenko and Kirumi appearing, and there was a moment in which neither side could react.

During that moment, Tenko observed the appearances of the two other students. One of them was a boy, and that immediately caused her to worry. Tenko's teacher had taught her that she should always be weary and never let down her guard in front of boys. In terms of appearance, he was white haired with green eyes, and was wearing a blue jacket and pants, along with a white undershirt.

As for the girl, she was the one who had a strange appearance. She was a girl, definitely. That couldn't easily be seen from her figure, that included a big bosom and long blonde hair. She was wearing a tight and short dress, and boots on her feet. That was all relatively normal. The unusual part was that her skin was strange. While the face part was only strangely pale, with weird lines coming down from the eyes, the parts of her body that could be seen were black and shaped like armored plates.

"Who... Who are you?" The boy snapped out of his confusion and asked.

Kirumi took the lead "My name is Kirumi Toujou and she is Tenko Chabashira. We are the Ultimate Entomologist and the Ultimate Detective, respectively. May I inquire about your identities?"

The boy took a deep breath and started talking "My name is Kiibo Idabashi. I am the Ultimate Astronaut. I only just woke up inside a locker in this room and don't know how I got here. Also, a talking stuffed bear appeared and gave me and her those 'Monopads', but he refused to explain anything." He spoke quickly and concisely.

"It's the same thing that happened with us. Also, Tenko thinks that some sort of group is responsible for capturing Ultimates from all around and bringing them together like this. After all, that bear called himself 'the Headmaster of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles'." Kirumi said.

"That is a plausible theory." The recently named Kiibo said.

"Changing subjects..." Tenko thought of something "I never heard of such a young astronaut."

Kiibo nodded "Technically I'm still a trainee. But usually people as young as me would not even be considered for that. I only managed because I already got a doctorate in engineering, fluency in five languages and the required physical fitness."

"That's really impressive." Kirumi said "It seems like you planned things well."

"Actually, it was my father who planned my path towards becoming an astronaut. I only had to follow it." He said.

After that, the strange girl started to speak, in a cheerful voice "I don't understand much about that, but it's pretty much like Kiibo said for me as well. Ah, my names are Miu Iruma and also M01000, and I am the Ultimate Robot!" Her gestures were flamboyant.

"Wait, you're a robot?" Tenko couldn't help but ask.

"Yes!" Was the answer "I am the most advanced robot in the world, equipped with all sorts of functions, including the capability for intercourse with both males and females!"

Tenko blushed heavily, almost not believing what she had just heard. Kiibo also blushed a bit, though it seemed like he had already expected something like that. Kirumi, on the other hand, managed to keep her cool and elegant manner.

"Tenko and I will be taking a look at the school and talking with the other students." She said "Monokuma said something about gathering all the Ultimates in one place to explain things, so we should see each other again at that time. Unless you have something else to talk about?"

The answer was negative, so Kirumi did a small bow and left the classroom together with Tenko.

The two of them went back to their search, and it didn't take long for them to find another person, this time someone who was walking through the corridor.

It was a girl. She was wearing a pink vest over a white shirt with short sleeves, as well as a checkered purple skirt. She had blonde hair and pink eyes, and was wearing a blue beret on her head, and shoes and knee socks on her feet.

The two introduced themselves, and the girl did the same:

"My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I don't like my title much because it sounds too villainous, but I am officially the Ultimate Supreme Leader." She spoke, looking slightly embarrassed.

"How did you get that title?" Tenko couldn't help but ask.

"Well, you see..." She started recounting things "Ever since I was small, I had always been fascinated by the ability to talk with people all over the world without even leaving home, to the point where I learned a lot of languages just to be able to communicate without issue." She smiled "I made a lot of good friends over the years, but one of my friends ended up in a bad situation one day. I decided to help them, and discovered that I was good at organizing stuff and putting the right people in contact with each other."

She adopted a thoughtful expression, with her arms crossed and the eyes closed "I still don't understand exactly how it happened, but things kept escalating, and eventually that resulted in the Russian Revolution." She finished in a tone that was far too light for what she had just said.

"That was you?" Even Kirumi couldn't completely keep her composure "That's the kind of thing people will learn about in textbooks in the future." She spoke, impressed.

"I just did what I had to do." She waved it off "I wonder what is going to happen here?" She was thoughtful again "Do you have any theories?" She asked Tenko.

"I have a few ideas, but I think it would be best if I waited until Monokuma's 'explanation', before making any actual theories." Tenko said.

"I understand."

After that, they parted ways and the duo of girls kept exploring. They went down a flight of stairs and quickly found a place that seemed to be an entrance hall, and there were two boys who were talking to each other next to the door.

One of the boys was very short, and he had black eyes and a pointy hat that covered his hair. He was wearing a black jacket with a blue and black jumpsuit underneath. He also had a cuff with a bit of chain attached to his leg.

The other boy was tall and had long black hair tied up in braids. He was wearing a cap on his head and had a mask covering his mouth. He was wearing something that looked like a cross between a school uniform and a military one, with a dark green button jacket with short sleeves and matching pants and boots. He was wearing sports gloves and his arms were covered in bandages.

Kirumi took the initiative to introduce herself and Tenko to the boys, who did the same.

The tall boy spoke first "My name is Korekiyo Shinguuji, and my title is the Ultimate Tennis Pro." His voice was calm and unhurried, but it turned excited on his next words "I try to honor the memory of my elder sister every time I step in court." He did a small bow.

"I think I know who you are..." Tenko tried to remember "There was something about a middle school freshman who founded a tennis club in a school without one and managed to lead that club to national victory."

"Indeed." Korekiyo nodded "I could have gone to another school, but that had been the school of my older sister, and she really wanted their tennis club to be restarted." Then he motioned for the other boy to speak.

"I..." He seemed to be slightly reluctant to talk "I am Ryoma Hoshi, and I was once called the Ultimate Magician. But that is all in the past." His voice was deep, unsuited for his appearance.

"And why is that?" Kirumi asked.

"Because I used my talent to kill people and was imprisoned." Ryoma said "The Ultimate Magician doesn't exist anymore, I am just his shadow."

Understanding that he didn't want to talk anymore, Kirumi addressed Korekiyo "Is that door locked?" She pointed to the front door.

"No." Was Korekiyo's response "But even though that is an exit from the school, it's not an exit from this place." He said cryptically "It's easier for you two to see for yourselves instead of me explaining."

Taking the cue, the two girls opened the door and stepped out. And what awaited them... was something beyond imagination.

The whole school and the territory around it were surrounded by a massive dome. And looking through the dome they could see... Planet Earth.

"We... We're in space...?!" Tenko barely managed to vocalize her feelings.

"That's exactly right!" Came Monokuma's voice from her side.

Both she and Kirumi were startled by Monokuma's sudden appearance "You are now in space, which means you have no chance of escaping!" He bragged.

"What do you mean by that?!" Tenko demanded.

"You don't need to worry." His voice was suddenly conciliatory "You will all have a chance of getting back home, as long as you follow the rules. I promise." And yet, his delivery still managed to have a small note of hidden threat underneath.

Then he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared, once again. Leaving Tenko and Kirumi to try and adjust to this new situation.

"So..." Tenko forced herself to remain cheerful "I guess we should go back to exploring the academy and meeting the others."

Kirumi nodded, recovering her elegant manner "Yes we should. But where do you think we should explore first?"

"Let's finish looking through the school before going outside." Was Tenko's answer.

The two did so, entering back from where they had left and passing by Korekiyo and Ryoma, who were back in conversation.

The two walked together, and Tenko felt happy for not having to do everything alone.

They found a library, which was a place that Tenko immediately took a liking to. It was full of books to the point of being overstuffed, and it was messy to a point where she had to stop herself from immediately trying to rearrange things... But the very atmosphere of the place spoke to the girl, but she knew her priorities, so she immediately focused on the two students who were inside.

They were a girl and a boy. The boy was green haired with green eyes. He had long eyelashes and was wearing a blue and gray sweater along with white pants and shoes. He had a necklace and a bracelet on his left arm.

The girl had long cerulean hair that came down to her waist, teal eyes and glasses. She was wearing a stylish school uniform, with a blazer over a white shirt who had an orange bow, a knee-length pleated skirt, and black socks and shoes.

Both of them were looking at the books, but turned upon hearing Tenko and Kirumi entering the library. The Ultimate Entomologist took the lead in introducing herself, with Tenko following her, and then it was the boy's turn:

"My name is Rantaro Amami." He spoke with a clear and unhurried voice "My title is the Ultimate Cosplayer, and I hope that my sisters are still doing well."

"How do you become an Ultimate Cosplayer?" Kirumi asked, interested.

"How do you become an Ultimate anything?" Rantaro shrugged "My younger sisters were interested in Cosplay, so I started making costumes for her, and I got better and better at it until my creations started winning prizes."

"It's nice that you wanted to help your sisters..." Tenko admitted.

"Yeah, and since I had twelve of them, I got a lot of practice." He laughed.

"Twelve?!" Tenko was surprised.

"Yeah..." Rantaro looked a bit embarrassed "Actually they're half-sisters. My father was kind of a playboy..."

"I understand." Kirumi said, before addressing the girl "And how about you?"

"My name is Tsumugi Shirogane and I am the Ultimate Child Caregiver." She said.

"Child Caregiver?" Tenko asked.

"I'm pretty plain, but I'm good at taking care of kids, to the point where I was asked to deal with all sorts of problem children." She nodded "But since there are no children around, I guess I'm no different from a normal person."

They talked a bit more, with Tenko asking about the contents of the library (it was pretty comprehensive, having all sorts of things), before she and Kirumi left to explore the rest of the school.

Soon, they found the dining hall, which had only a single table and was overgrown with plants. Sitting at the table were another boy and girl pair, and the boy was talking earnestly about something, while the girl listened with a smile on her face.

Saying that the boy was "heavily built" would be an understatement. He was the kind of person who was often described as "a mountain of a man". He was wearing a brown school blazer with a multicolored tie and brown pants. He had red eyes and wore glasses, and his hair was brown, long and messy. He wore no shoes and carried a bag on his right arm.

The girl was nearly the total opposite. She was short and had dark skin and nearly-white platinum blonde hair that was tied in two wavy ponytails. Her eyes were ocean blue and she wore a white lab cloth without the buttons being done. Under that, she wore a white, frilly bikini top and a blue short. She also wore heavy duty work gloves and heavy white boots.

When the two girls approached, the dark skinned girl noticed them first. She stopped the boy from talking with a small gesture and waved to the two, greeting them cheerfully:

"Yo-hooo! Nice to meet you!"

The boy looked at them and also did his greeting. Tenko and Kirumi approached the table and introduced themselves. And then the girl did the same:

"My name is Angie Yonaga. I am called the Ultimate Inventor!" She put a hand on her chin "Though actually it's Atua who invents things, I only serve as a channel for him." She smiled "As the voice of Atua, I took the responsibility of bringing his creations to life in order to better the life of the people in my island."

"That's cool. What kinds of things did you, or rather Atua, invent?" Tenko asked.

"I think the most important thing were the technologies behind the creation of the fish farms." Angie said, putting her hands forward in a gesture like framing a picture "With that, we could be sure to have a constant supply of food no matter the situation." She put her hands together in prayer "Atua is truly a wonderful god who takes care of his people..."

Seeing that Angie had finished, Kirumi took the liberty of looking at the boy and asking "How about you?"

"Me? I'm Gonta. Gonta Gokuhara." He spoke with a kind voice "Gonta is the Ultimate Artist, and his dream is to become a true gentleman." He said, full of conviction.

"Ultimate Artist? Then what kind of art do you make?" Kirumi asked.

"Gonta makes all kinds. Painting, sculpting, drawing... Gonta has lots of supplies on his bag." He showed the bag on his arm "Gonta grew up in forest, so when Gonta get into society, he didn't know how to communicate well with words, so Gonta started using art to do it, and that's how Gonta become Ultimate Artist."

"That's nice. I hope you can show me some of your art later."

"Gonta will do it. But for now, Angie wanted to hear about Gonta's life, so Gonta can't do anything yet."

"Then I'll leave you two to it." Kirumi said with a smile.

"Oh, before you leave..." Angie attracted their attention "I already took a look at the kitchen, and it is really well-stocked, so we will be able to make all kinds of yummy food while we're here."

"Right, understood." Tenko nodded to her, and then the two girls left.

After that, they keep looking through the school, and found the storage, which was much less run down than the rest of the place. It contained all sorts of things, from drones to high jump bars, it also contained another boy.

That boy was short, though not as short as Ryoma, whom they had met before. He was purple haired and eyed, and his hair was messy. He was wearing a white suit and pants, with white belts strapped to them, giving an appearance similar to that of a straightjacket. He also had a scarf with a black and white chessboard pattern.

He noticed the two entering the storage, and waved at them "Hello! Welcome to my personal playground!"

The two approached and introduced themselves, and then it was time for the boy to do the same.

"My name is Kokichi Ouma... And it is a little embarrassing, but I actually don't remember what my talent is." He rubbed his head "I mean, I must have one, since everyone else here is an Ultimate, but I don't know what it is."

"Really?" Kirumi asked, surprised.

"Actually, that's a lie." He smirked "Why would I forget my own talent? I am the Ultimate Anthropologist!"

"Why would you lie about forgetting your talent?" Tenko asked.

"I was actually afraid that people would get suspicious of my talent." Kokichi said.

"Really?" Tenko asked.

"Nope, that's another lie." He smirked again.

"Are you sure you're the Ultimate Anthropologist and not the Ultimate Liar?" Kirumi asked.

"Of course I'm sure. After all, an Anthropologist is interested in the essence of humanity, which means I'm interested in lies, and why the humans tell them."

Those words were spoken in the most serious voice he had shown up until then.

Kirumi smiled "I wanted to ask you how you became the Ultimate Anthropologist, but I think you would just lie again."

"Oh? You really get me." He smiled "It's really nice to have someone smart like you around."

The two took a look at the rest of the storage and then left to continue exploring the school.

The last place of note they found inside the school was the game room, which featured a Foosball and billiard tables, as well as a bunch of arcades. Inside were, once again, both a boy and a girl.

The boy had spiky purple hair and lilac eyes, as well as a beard stubble. He was dressed in an elegant black and white waistcoat and suit, along with pants and shoes to form a perfect butlery ensemble. His expression was warm and excited.

The girl was pretty, with long black hair tied up in pigtails, she had red eyes and was wearing a red sailor shirt with a small black pleated skirt with white musical note patterns. She was also wearing brown boots and thigh-high scarlet socks, and had delicate white gloves on her hands. Her expression was unfriendly, the type that didn't draw in people.

Again, the two girls introduced themselves to those new people, and again, the boy was the first to do his own introduction:

"I'm Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Butler!" He declared "I serve only the greatest of people, to allow them to reach their full potential. That is my oath as the greatest butler in the world!" His manners really weren't butlery, but Tenko reasoned that he wouldn't have obtained his title if he didn't have real skills.

"Now it's your turn, Maki!" He spoke to the girl "Show them what you have!"

The girl looked at him like she couldn't believe he had actually said that, before sighing, looking at Tenko and starting to speak "My name is Maki Harukawa, and I am the Ultimate Pianist."

"That means you must like piano a lot." Kirumi said "What kind of music do you like to play?"

"I don't actually like piano that much." Maki denied coldly "I just started playing to try and entertain the other children on the orphanage, and I kept playing once I discovered that I could make money with it."

"So you actually became an Ultimate to help your fellow orphans." Tenko pointed out "That is also pretty nice."

Maki didn't respond to that, and her expression also didn't change, but her small reaction showed that she liked the compliment.

"You can take the compliment, Maki." Kaito said, having realized the same "This is what you deserve, so you don't have to be embarrassed." He gave her a thumbs up.

"Shut up." Maki said, but without any real heat behind her words.

Soon, Tenko and Kirumi left the game room, and checked the rest of the school before leaving through the door. They started exploring the school grounds, and soon found themselves on the dormitory. It was a small two story building, composed entirely out of sixteen rooms (which was probably the number of Ultimates), with each room's occupant being represented by a small chibi avatar on top of the door. They found a girl there.

She was a cute girl, who was small enough to merit the moniker of "little", and had a child-like appearance. Her hair was red, and her eyes were reddish brown. She was wearing an outfit that looked like the top part of a white karategi combined with a red hakama, except that it seemed like a slightly casual version of those clothes, with some floral details decorating both parts. She was wearing sandals and socks on her feet.

She looked on sleepily as Tenko and Kirumi introduced themselves, and then she started talking in a voice completely lacking in energy:

"I am Himiko Yumeno, and you should watch and be amazed, for I am the Ultimate Aikido Master!"

There was a moment of silence, before Himiko continued speaking "Normal martial arts are too much work, but Master Kushinada taught me her special Kushinada-style Aikido." Himiko raised a finger, calling for attention "This Aikido is based entirely on using the strength of the opponent, without any of your own strength. So that even the weakest person in the world can defeat the strongest, as long as they use it."

"That seems quite impressive." Kirumi said "And when exactly did you get your title?"

"Ah, that's easy." Himiko said "Master took me to fight the strongest disciples of the strongest martial artists in the world, all in a row." She sighed "I ended up beating twelve of them. I could have beaten more, but standing for that long was already too much of a pain, so I lay down to take a nap."

"Wow. That means you are super strong, Himiko!" Tenko spoke, impressed.

"Yeah, yeah... Do you have anything you want with me? If not, I'm gonna go into my room and take another nap." She said, already yawning.

Tenko and Kirumi said no, so she left with slow steps. Tenko looked at her partner and shrugged with an expression of 'I don't understand, either'.

They went back to exploring and finally found the last of their fellow students. Completing the circle, it was a boy. He was in a strange part of the academy grounds, having a fountain in the center and arena style steps on the north, which were covered in plants.

The boy was dressed in a black school uniform and black pants, and was wearing a black cap with a white strap that made his gray eyes difficult to see. His build was thin and his hair was black and short.

He was sitting on one of the steps, and he looked nervous when the two girls approached to introduce themselves. He held the brim of his hat as he spoke.

"My name is Shuuichi Saihara." His voice was quiet and his manner was withdrawn "I... I actually don't know what my Ultimate Talent is."

Tenko and Kirumi were surprised, remembering the fact that Kokichi had said the same thing.

"I only know that I have one because Monokuma told me that I should meet the 'other Ultimates', which implied that I was one, but I have no idea what kind of talent I could have."

"Have you forgotten about your daily life?" Tenko asked.

"No. I still remember going to school, helping my uncle, traveling around... But I can't remember anything that could have anything to do with a talent."

"Perhaps..." Tenko began talking, but was interrupted by a sudden beep of her Monopad.

She took it out and saw that the screen was turned on, and it was showing a map of the school, with the position she was in being highlighted by a blinking dot. She also saw that there was a blinking X in the middle of one of the buildings. And then Monokuma's voice came out of the pad:

"The preparations are complete. All Ultimates, please report to the gym, which is marked on your Monopad. Your questions will be answered there."

Tenko looked at the map and realized that the marked place was a building that they had not been able to enter because the door was locked.

"We should probably go there." Kirumi said.

The other two agreed with her, and they went to the gym, which soon filled up with all sixteen students.

The gym had a stage with a speaker platform, and Monokuma appeared on that platform as soon as all the students had gathered together.

"Helloooo, my beautiful students! Here is your Headmaster Monokuma speaking!" He started "I'm sure you guys have a lot of questions, so first I will clarify the situation here."

None of the students spoke, waiting to see what Monokuma would say.

"You guys should be proud of yourselves, because you were all chosen to participate in the most important event in the world... The Multiplicity Game!" He spoke grandly.

"And what is this Multiplicity Game, you ask?" He laughed "Puhuhu... It's the greatest game in the world, that tests your wits, smarts and courage. It's a game created specifically to be played by Ultimates!

"In this game, your most important tool will be your Monopads. They have all sorts of functions that will be useful for the game, but the most important part is that they will keep track of your individual Monokuma Points, or Monopoints.

"These Monopoints shall serve as currency to be used in the game. Every one of you will be given 500 Monopoints to start with, and you will be able to earn more of them by completing certain tasks or games, or by betting against other players, and there is a special function in the Monopads to call me to serve as a fair judge for any of those bets."

By that point, the students were already getting curious about where this could end, but Monokuma was giving out so many details as he talked that none of them dared to lose concentration.

"Those tasks or games that I speak of are varied and each of them have their own rules and rewards. You will be able to find them by looking for special locked safes and doors all around the campus. To open them, you will have to use your Monopads, and some of them will also need you guys to pay a certain amount of Monopoints in order to open." He stopped for a moment "Ah, and the areas of the school that you couldn't go into before are now open."

Gonta looked like he was about to open his mouth to ask something, but Angie touched his arm and shook her head to dissuade him from it.

"Besides Monopoints, you will also be able to get other rewards from those challenges, most of which will be important for your game objectives.

"This game is both individual and team based at the same time. It is divided in rounds, which each will last a week. Each one of you will receive a new individual objective each round, along with a group objective that you will have to work together in order to complete.

"But you can't be careless, for there is a special contestant among you. You can call them 'the wolf', 'the mole', or whatever you like, but this student will act indirectly to try and hinder your objectives, so be sure to take note.

"One last thing." And his tone turned threatening "Participation in this game is non-voluntary. Failing to complete your individual objective before the end of the round will result in being punished, and if the group objective is not completed, then every single student, minus the wolf, will be punished. Do you have any questions?"

There was a bit of silence before someone spoke, that person was Kaede:

"You mentioned that we would be punished, but what is this punishment that you speak of?"

"Puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed "Of course, there is only one possible punishment for children who would disobey..." He clapped his paws.

And suddenly, five monsters fell from the ceiling. Or at least, that's how it seemed at first.

The five figures were actually robots, but they were so ominous looking that most of the students retreated a step when the robots reached the ground. They were huge like moose, and their sharp metallic design left no doubt as to their purpose as weapons of war.

"Death!" Monokuma declared, as the robots waved their arms menacingly in the direction of the students "All those who disobey the rules or fail shall face the fury of the Exisals! PUHUHUHUHUHUHU!" He laughed loudly for a bit before suddenly calming down "Any more questions?"

This time, Kokichi (who was one of the students who didn't take a step back) was the one to talk.

"You said that we were 'chosen', but who chose us, why were we chosen, and what is the purpose of all this?"

"Ohh?" Monokuma seemed impressed "Those are some really good questions! The process of your choosing is complex and not relevant at the moment. You only need to know that every single member of the Ultimate Initiative is a candidate and you were very lucky to be chosen." He waved his arms "Who choose you is also not important, you just need to know that it is an influence who has a vested interest in the results of this game and enough power to make it a reality.

"And the purpose of the game? Figure it out for yourselves! That is one of the objectives and one of the most important parts of the Multiplicity Game."

Kokichi didn't seem to be disheartened because of that response, and Tenko decided that there was something she needed to know:

"How have we gotten here, and why doesn't any of us remember anything about it?"

"You have gotten here via some very technological means that I am not allowed to disclose. And your memories were altered via other technological means that I am also not allowed to disclose in order to preserve the fairness of the game." Monokuma said, obviously enjoying the fact that his answers didn't say much at all.

"Does that mean...?!" Shuuichi started, then flinched when he noticed everyone looking at him, but continued "Does that mean that the reason why I can't remember my talent is also because of that? And why would that be done to me?"

"Yes. That is the reason. The Multiplicity Game requires one student to be in that situation for reasons I cannot disclose. You will have both specific advantages and disadvantages because of it. And why it is specifically you? You can just blame your bad luck!"

Shuuichi looked down, obviously depressed. And one last person asked something. It was Angie.

"You said that we would 'have a chance' to go back home. Does this mean that if we complete all the rounds and finish the game, we will be freed?"

"Puhuhu... Bears never tell lies. That's exactly the case. If you guys manage to finish the game, all the survivors will be allowed to return home." Monokuma said.

The mention of 'survivors' caused the mood in the gym to darken. Monokuma waited a little more and then said:

"If there are no more questions, then allow me to officially declare the beginning of the First Round of the Multiplicity Game!" He raised his arm to the air and the Exisals did the same.

Then, every single Monopad on the gym beeped all at once. Tenko looked at the screen of her and saw a message saying "Game Start".

She touched the screen.


	2. Monopad and Safes

A few words appeared on the screen:

"Go to the Ultimate Detective's Lab to obtain your objective."

And the map had come back, this time showing the way back into the school, to a room on the third floor. There was also a bar on the top part of the screen that showed a few symbols, probably used for navigation of the functions of the Monopad.

One of the symbols was a map, which was the function currently being used. Another one was a clock, which probably was used to mark the time remaining in each round. Another was a wrench, which Tenko thought meant "tools", but wasn't sure. Yet another was an unchecked box, the type used for questions in school, which probably meant something like "objectives", "missions" and similar things. The penultimate one was a chest, which should be the tracker for the Monopoints along with all the other virtual resources of the game. Finally, the last symbol was a letter, which should be some sort of messaging system, to communicate between Monopads.

Tenko took note of all this in only a few moments, and was interrupted before doing anything else by Kirumi talking to her.

"Do you have to go to your lab too?" She showed her Monopad, which had the same message, except with Entomologist in place of Detective.

"Yeah, it's the same thing." Tenko confirmed "I imagine it should be the same for everyone else. And I want to know what is this lab thing about, since they should be part of the rooms that were locked before."

"That seems to be a good idea. I guess we should meet up later?" Kirumi asked.

"Yes. We'll talk about it once we both have our objectives." Tenko said, and the two left the gym, at the same time that a bunch of other students were doing the same thing.

They split up and headed for their own labs, on the way, Tenko saw a few safes that hadn't been there when she had been exploring the school. Those would probably be the safes Monokuma had been talking about.

Also, she took the time to familiarize herself with the functions of the Monopad. The map showed her the full measure of the school, that she hadn't been able to explore completely, and she even saw that there were strange areas like a casino and an underground tunnel. The clock function showed a countdown, which had started with one hundred and sixty eight hours, which were exactly seven days. Weirdly, there was also a second time box, which was grayed out, which should have some other function.

The wrench was indeed "tools", and the variety was remarkable. There was a lantern function, a photograph function, a calculator, a notepad, an encyclopedia, a chronometer, a Monokuma head(probably the judge function) and a few others. It would definitely be useful. The unchecked box had two subsections, one of which showed the team and individual objectives (both currently grayed out), and another one which had the header "current tasks", which was self-explanatory, though currently empty.

The chest was exactly like Tenko expected, mostly, except that besides Monopoints and "resources", there was also a sub-header for "information", which included extra sub-headers for notes, pictures, task history and a button to create new ones. However, the letter symbol was a surprise.

It did indeed have a messaging function, but the most impressive part was the "forum", a sort of intranet that allowed the players to communicate in a forum format. You could post topics, and there were options to only allow certain people to view and/or reply to them. Most mysterious, however, was a function that was called "establish commander – subordinate link", which was grayed out.

There were a lot of things Tenko had made note of in regards to the Monopad, and she could tell that there were a lot of mysteries hidden within it. However, the most important was still to deal with the objectives of the game, so she left that for later and got inside her lab.

She immediately understood why it was called an Ultimate Detective Lab. It seemed like it had been created just for her.

There were books about all sorts of things that would be useful in investigations, from patterns of wear and tear in materials to details about specific injuries and stages of body decomposition, and that was just the beginning. There were also a few tools which most people wouldn't recognize, strange glasses and something that seemed like a combination of a snow globe and a pachinko machine.

But Tenko could recognize them, because her teacher had used things like this as aids in order to train her observation skills. The strange glasses had various effects on her vision, forcing Tenko to focus on different things than she usually did. The strange tool, when shook, had its hoops (the thing it had instead of fake snow) move all around the complicated structure of the thing, and Tenko had used it to train by trying to keep track of every single one of the hoops.

The more she looked at the lab, the more Tenko felt an ominous feeling rising from her heart. It was just too perfect. Even the chair and work table were exactly the type she liked and arranged in exactly the way she would do. This was definitely a clue about the deep mysteries of that academy and the Multiplicity Game. Tenko already had a few ideas about what it could mean, but she forced herself to not get too invested in any possible theory, since there was still far too much that she didn't know.

The Monopad beeped, and Tenko forced herself to focus back on the present. She had been trained to not forget any detail, so she simply put those thoughts to the back of her head. Tenko opened the objective section.

She realized two things simultaneously. The first was the fact that the team objective part was still grayed out, though there were some words on it. However, she couldn't focus on what they said because her attention was stolen by the individual objective part:

"One of the players is hiding their true Talent. Input the name of the player and of their actual Talent."

Tenko took a deep breath and pressed on that part of the screen, being taken to a new window with a keyboard input and two empty boxes where the letters would appear. It was fairly straightforward.

So... That was the deal. Tenko immediately connected that to what Monokuma mentioned about the "wolf". This game wouldn't allow the players to cooperate easily, if those two things were any indication.

And about the objective itself... It would be difficult. Tenko knew that the person who was hiding their talent would have pretty good reasons for doing that, so it would be difficult to be sure of who it was, since the person would do everything to make sure it wasn't discovered.

But she had seven days to think of a way, and there was still a lot she didn't know about the game, so maybe there were some things she could use.

Tenko proceeded to take a look at the team objective thing, and it was very straightforward as well:

"Team Objective will be revealed in 24 hours."

Tenko looked at the time section and saw that there was a new countdown there, this time starting at 24 hours. With this, it seemed like the makers of the game wanted the participants to start by focusing on their individual objectives, which would also make it harder to unite them for the team objective.

Then, the Monopad beeped again and Tenko saw that it was the forum that had some activity. Looking at it, she saw a thread by Kaede Akamatsu, in which she was testing the forum function, and asked the others to comment if they could see it.

Tenko put on her own comment, seeing that this was probably a good idea. Then she went to the private messaging function and sent a text to Kirumi:

"I'm about done here. Should we meet in front of the gym?"

In fact, there was just one more thing that she wanted to do in the lab. Look at the safe that was inside but she had ignored earlier.

It didn't take a genius to realize that putting a safe right in the "initial position" of an Ultimate right at the start of the game was a clear indication that it should be something basic, that would be best to look at early. Tenko even imagined that every one of the Ultimates should have their own safe in their labs.

Tenko walked over to the safe and held the Monopad against the obvious sensor. Soon, words appeared on the screen of the Monopad.

"Safe #5. Type: Puzzle. Reward for Completion: Hint. Time Allowed: Infinite. Punishment for Failure: None. Open?"

And there were buttons with "Yes" and "No". Again, it was pretty straightforward. Tenko pressed "Yes".

With a mechanical sound, the lock of the safe was disabled and it opened.

Tenko reached her hand inside and took out...

"A Rubik's Cube?"

And indeed, that was what it seemed to be. The screen of the Monopad changed to the "Current Tasks", and there was a single item on the list, named "Safe #5".

Then, Tenko received a reply to her previous message, which simply read "Sure."

Tenko pocketed the Rubik's Cube for the time being. She had a few ideas to test, but that would need the help of another student, so she walked to the meeting spot.

-0-

Tenko smiled when she reached the spot and saw Kirumi waiting for her. They greeted each other, and Tenko decided to ask something:

"What did you think of your lab?"

Kirumi crossed her arms and said "It was perfect. That's the only way I can describe it."

Tenko nodded "It was the same way for me too. And I imagine all the others had similar experiences." She shook her head "Except Shuuichi, since I don't think it would be that easy for him to discover what his talent was. But regardless, that is definitely something that I have to make note of."

"You have any theories?"

Tenko shook her head "I still have far too little information to create any sort of reliable theory."

"Hmm..." Kirumi seemed to think about something "Did you get your Individual Objective? Mine is a little strange."

"How so?" Tenko asked.

Kirumi touched the screen of her Monopad a few times and showed Tenko her Individual Objective:

"Find the 'Special Bug' hidden in the Academy."

Tenko was touched by the fact that Kirumi would do such a thing as to confide her Individual Objective with her, even if it didn't seem to be anything particularly sensitive. So, the Detective truly put her mind to work, wanting to help her friend as much as she could.

"I believe..." Tenko started "That this doesn't refer to an actual insect that you would have to scour all around the place to find, but some sort of special object instead. Also, since the game is all about the special tasks from the safes and rooms, I imagine that you will be able to find clues to the location of your objective by completing the tasks."

Then Tenko thought about it, and decided that she should return Kirumi's trust, so she also said:

"I also believe that every one of our Individual Objectives is suited for the person's specific talent. Here, look at mine..." And Tenko showed Kirumi her own objective.

Kirumi read it, and her expression changed, showing that she understood what that meant, in several different manners. She then spoke with a serious voice:

"Do you have any idea who it is?"

Tenko shook her head "No. It's too early yet. But I think that the task rewards should help me with that, same as with you."

"Right..."

Tenko then decided to try and test a few of her ideas. First, she asked Kirumi:

"Was there a safe in your lab? Did you open it?"

"Yes." She said "There was a Sudoku puzzle inside but I haven't done it yet. Do you want to see it?" Kirumi asked.

"Not right now." Tenko shook her head "But I have a few ideas about how those safes work, and I will need your help to test them."

"What do you need me to do?" Kirumi asked promptly.

Tenko took the Rubik's Cube out of her pocket "See if you can scan this."

Kirumi pressed her Monopad to the Cube, and soon a beep sounded "Safe #5. Type: Puzzle. Reward for Completion: 50 Monopoints. Time Allowed: Infinite. Punishment for Failure: None. Accept?" She raised her eyes to look at Tenko "It's pretty similar to mine, except it's number five instead of twelve, and the reward is Monopoints instead of a hint."

"My reward for it is a hint." Tenko said "Which means the rewards for the same safes can be different depending on the student." She nodded "Next, I have to finish this thing, but could you please keep your Monopad pressed against it?"

Kirumi did so, and Tenko quickly solved the Rubik's Cube. It was only a question of knowing how the entire thing would react to each change. As soon as she finished, Tenko's Monopad beeped. Also, the Cube moved by itself and returned to an "unsolved" configuration.

Looking at it, Tenko saw a message "Safe #5 complete. You have gained Hint #5,"

Tenko quickly went to her "resources" tab and saw that the list now had an item called "Hint #5". She checked it:

"The Challenge Doors are the true essence of the Multiplicity Game."

Tenko took note of that, and showed it to Kirumi. Then she started speaking "It seems like they have a way to tell who exactly is responsible for completing a challenge. Now, I have to ask something: Do you know how to solve a Rubik's Cube?"

Kirumi shook her head "No."

Tenko passed the Cube to her "Then I'll walk you through it."

She did so, and it didn't take a long time before Kirumi managed to complete the task. And then, it was her Monopad that beeped, and after looking at it (the Cube had already done the same thing as before), Kirumi said that she had gotten the fifty Monopoints.

"Understood." Tenko said "You have to complete the work yourself, but you can have help. That is an important clue."

"Really?" Kirumi asked.

"Indeed. And there are still some other things to check. Could you bring me to your lab?"

Kirumi agreed, and the two went there.

-0-

The lab was exactly what Tenko expected, both from the Ultimate Entomologist and from Kirumi Toujou. It was elegantly organized, with books of reference in a clear order and bug specimens put in a way that could even be called decorative, along with the various tools for catching bugs.

"What do you want me to do?" Kirumi asked, seeing that Tenko wasn't taking the initiative to do something.

"First, you should solve your own puzzle." Tenko said

"Right." She nodded "Do you want to scan it?"

"Not at the moment." Tenko shook her head "There's something I wanted to test."

Kirumi didn't understand what you meant, but took upon herself to solve her puzzle. Tenko saw that the Sudoku puzzle was a small board which you could touch to change the numbers on. It was definitely something that could be easily "reset", which was another thing to keep in mind.

It didn't really take long, since that particular Sudoku wasn't exactly one of the hard ones. Kirumi looked at her Monopad and then showed the hint she got to Tenko:

"Different places have different types of challenges."

The detective nodded. That was a small hint, but it certainly was useful. But there was another reason why she got Kirumi to do the puzzle.

"Now, could you put the puzzle back into the safe and close it?" She asked.

Kirumi blinked, but did as she was asked. Then her Monopad beeped.

"It's asking if I want to lock it." She said, after looking at the screen.

"Say yes." Tenko said, thoughtful. It really seemed like her thoughts had been right.

Kirumi did as asked, and Tenko walked over and pressed her Monopad to the safe. There was a beep.

"This safe is locked. Do you wish to send a request to the owner?" Was the message.

Tenko pressed yes, and Kirumi's Monopad beeped. She looked at it, and froze. She showed the message to Tenko, wordlessly.

"Tenko Chabashira wants to open Safe #12. Do you want to set a price?"

Kirumi looked at her and asked "Was that what you expected?"

Tenko nodded "Yes. By completing a puzzle and putting the item back into the safe, you become the owner. That is the true meaning of the safes. I imagine that there is also..."

She was interrupted by a beep from the Monopad. She looked and saw a new topic on the forum. It was Kokichi Ouma, selling Safe #8 for 25 Monopoints.

Kirumi was also looking at her own Monopad, then she asked Tenko:

"Is this really possible?"

"Yes. And it's just like I imagined. The puzzles that we have done aren't things that are difficult." Tenko said "Using the tools of the Monopad, like the encyclopedia, any one of us could do any of them. The true meaning of the safes isn't that the people who can do it have an advantage, it's that people who have done it gain 'ownership'." Tenko sighed "This isn't worth much for most of them. But if you have access to something another person desperately needs..." Tenko trailed off.

"And if you can set your own prices..." Kirumi understood.

"Exactly. That means you have a lot of power." She closed her eyes "At least, in the case of the safes of this type, but I imagine there should be similar schemes involving the other types of safes. That is one of the layers of the Multiplicity Game."

There were a few instants of silence, and then Kirumi asked:

"What do you think we should do next?"

Tenko smiled. It seemed like she had already found an ally "Looking at other types of safes could be good, but my hint is something I really want to check out.

"So how about we go take a look at one of those 'Challenge Doors'?"


	3. Searching for Information

It wasn't difficult to find a Challenge Door to take on. That was because, different from the safes, the challenge doors were clearly marked on the map. There were fifteen of them.

Tenko choose to go to the closest Challenge Door, which happened to be number 9, and was only one floor below the Ultimate Entomologist's Lab, being on the second floor of the classroom building.

The two quickly got there, and found a locked door that had some sort of scanner installed right next to the handle. Tenko took the initiative to hold up her Monopad to the scanner, and what she saw caused her blood to freeze.

It was pretty similar to the message from the safe, it said:

"Challenge Door #9. Type: Puzzle. Reward for Completion: Part 9 of the Adamantis Puzzle and 10000 Monopoints. Time Allowed: Five Minutes. Players Allowed: 1. Punishment for Failure: Loss of Hand. Open?"

Tenko took a deep breath and forced herself to be calm and analyze the situation for any possible clues.

First, she saw that the challenge type was still puzzle, and remembering Kirumi's hint, she theorized that it was probably due to the fact that both of their safes and the challenge door were in the same place: The classroom building.

Second, the prize was "Part 9" of something called "Adamantis Puzzle" (aside from the Monopoints). It was reasonable to assume that the prizes of the other doors would also contain pieces of that puzzle. And thinking about her own hint, Tenko assumed that this puzzle would be something very important for the game, perhaps even relating to the team objective.

Third, there was a new part called "players allowed". This door only allowed a single player to enter, but that also meant some of the other doors could be completed in a team. Tenko had a few ideas about how such a mechanic would work, but she would need more data to make any reliable theories about it.

Finally, she could not ignore it anymore, and actually thought about the punishment part. She had been worried ever since she saw the words "Punishment for Failure: None" upon checking her first safe, but the rules of that door pretty much confirmed her fears.

The group that had captured the Ultimates and was forcing them to play that game seemed to be willing to allow them to be hurt in the process of playing. So it wasn't much of a stretch to think that they would be willing to allow them to die, as well. And continuing that line of thought, that meant there was a lower possibility that Monokuma's words about killing them being a bluff.

Tenko put a hand on her face and tried to organize her thoughts for a few seconds.

"Tenko?" Kirumi called, concerned.

Hearing that, Tenko managed to snap out of her tense state. She showed Kirumi the rules on her Monopad and saw the girl's face blanch.

"That... is concerning." Kirumi said "What do you want to do?"

"Well..." Tenko closed her eyes and thought, before pressing the screen to decline "I definitely don't want to get into anything like this without gathering as much information as possible first."

"Then..." She started "Could you take a look to see if it's the same thing for you?"

Kirumi nodded and held her Monopad to the scanner, then she looked at the screen.

"It's almost the same thing, except that instead of 10000 Monopoints, it's 5000 Monopoints and a 'Bug Beacon'." She said.

"A 'Bug Beacon', huh..." Tenko thought about it "I imagine that it would be something useful for your objectives in the game, but not necessarily for the other players."

Kirumi pressed the button 'NO', and then Tenko closed her eyes and thought seriously about what should be the next step.

"I think we should go around and try to get all the information we can from the safes and doors without actually activating them. Also, there could be other useful things that appeared in the school after the game started." She eventually said.

Kirumi agreed with the proposal, and they left.

And so, they went around the school, trying to get as much information as possible. And Tenko decided to organize their findings as a series of notes on her Monopad, which Kirumi also copied.

First was the fact that the challenges, both safes and doors, were indeed divided in a number of types, based on their location. "Puzzle" types were inside the school building, "Game" types were inside the casino, "Task" types were on the outside, "Challenge" types were on the underground and "Collection" types were inside the second building. There didn't seem to be any challenges inside the dormitory.

Second was the fact that some of the doors and safes had requirements in order to be opened. Most of them were in terms of Monopoints (including one particular safe whose requirement was fifty thousand Monopoints and whose reward was ?), but there were three safes whose requirements were possession of certain puzzle pieces (one, four and fifteen, to be exact), as well as two with unknown requirements (again, the ? thing) and five had requirements that seemed to be specific for each Ultimate (one example for Tenko was having the task information of a specific Ultimate, while one for Kirumi was having a bug beacon).

Third, there were a lot of other challenges that had punishments for failure, including every single one of the challenge doors. And regrettably, all the punishments for the challenge doors were things like losing arms and legs, losing eyes and that sort of scary threat. Challenge Door number 8, in particular, actually had "Death" as the punishment for failure, which really freaked out Tenko and Kirumi. The punishments for the safes were lighter in certain terms, with things like losing a particular number of Monopoints, being unable to activate any safes or doors for forty eight hours and the very ominous "release of restricted information". Some of those punishments were also unknown.

Fourth, there were four types of outcomes for the "Players Allowed" part: 1, 1-2, 1-3 and 2. There were five safes in total in which the players allowed were two and only two, and all of them were inside the casino. In there was also the single door that was the same way. Tenko theorized that those kinds of challenges were adversarial in nature.

Fifth, there didn't seem to be a pattern for the number of Challenge Doors in each "area". The outside area had just a single door, while the second building area had a whooping six of them. The other three areas were in between.

Sixth, the casino also contained an electronic shop, in which the players could buy and sell stuff using their Monopoints. It was even possible to sell the "hints" they had obtained. The things they could buy were divided in things that were specific to each one (in Tenko's case it seemed to be based around information, like revealing a lot of those "?" , while in Kirumi's case, there were bug beacons and other bug stuff, whose purpose wasn't clear, but apparently needed something called "golden bug" to be used, which was probably the "special bug" mentioned in Kirumi's Individual Objective) and things that either of them could buy, from simple stuff like a tracker that can tell you which safes were already owned, to a very concerning card, which you could use to force another student into a bet, as long as the terms of the bet were considered "fair" by Monokuma.

Seventh, and that was actually something that Kirumi noticed, instead of Tenko. There were apparently no bugs anywhere in the school that wasn't Kirumi's Lab. Bugs could pretty much get anywhere there were humans, so for there to be no bugs of any sort inside that place was concerning, specially given that it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. It implied that the place was completely isolated from the outside world to an outright disturbing degree.

Still, they eventually made their way back to the place they started, standing right before Challenge Door 9.

"I guess this is it." Tenko said "I have to do it."

"Are you sure?" Kirumi asked "It's dangerous."

"If I'm right, taking those sorts of risks will be necessary if we want to complete the team objective, and thus survive." Tenko said, taking a deep breath to muster her courage "Hesitating at this point would just make things more difficult in the future."

"... I understand." Kirumi nodded, after a pause "But you will remain in contact via the Monopad, right?" She used a finger to touch the Monopad she was carrying, for emphasis.

Tenko smiled and touched her own Monopad, then she turned to the door, set her face into a determined expression, and pressed the Monopad against the sensor. And this time she pressed yes.

The door opened, and Tenko saw a few new words on the screen of the Monopad:

"Door Unlocked. Please proceed inside the room within the next ten seconds."

Tenko walked inside, and the door started to close. Tenko heard a final "Good luck" from the outside before it closed fully.

It was a small room, and most of the walls and ceiling were covered in posters depicting groups of people. The only place where that wasn't the case was a small bit in the center part of the north wall (the door was to the east) where a computer screen and keyboard were placed. In front of it was a small stool.

The Monopad beeped again, this time flashing with instructions that said to sit at the stool, and she soon noticed that it was bolted to the floor.

The Detective sat down, and she heard a sound coming from the ceiling. A hidden hatch in there opened and from it came two... tubes of some sort, metallic tubes whose purpose was definitely not positive. The two tubes stopped going down when their openings were at the height of Tenko's shoulders.

Again, words appeared on the Monopad. It was written "Choose what arm". And it was clear what she needed to do, so even though it was terrifying, Tenko slipped her left arm into the left tube.

After a moment, she felt her arm being trapped by some sort of manacle, and the second tube retreated back into the ceiling. The computer screen in front of her finally lit up, showing the words "Challenge Start".

Then a timer appeared. It started at 05:00, and began counting down.

Tenko just hoped she would be able to use her time the right way.


	4. Challenge Door 9

The screen changed again, but Tenko, before even looking at them, touched the screen of her Monopad and navigated to the messages part, intent in establishing a connection with Kirumi.

But it was at that point that the Multiplicity Game showed yet another one of its fangs.

When she tried to message Kirumi, she saw that her name (and all the others as well) was grayed out, and trying to touch it elicited the message "While in a Challenge Room, connections can only be established between Commanders and Subordinates".

Tenko checked the forum almost without thinking, and saw that it was also blocked. Suddenly, she remembered about that Commander – Subordinate link function she had seen earlier, and Tenko's mind worked in overdrive, making connections about what she knew of the game.

The word that came to her mind was "Factions". The fact that the way to make teams was based around commanders and subordinates meant that the power in each team would be concentrated in the hands of one person, and that would pave the way to the development of factions, instead of allowing the Ultimates to actually team up and try to help each other.

And factions would definitely start forming. Considering how important it was to pass through the Challenge Doors, the ability of being able to obtain help while inside them was simply too valuable to pass by.

It was yet another sign that the players were being set up to work against each other.

All those thoughts passed through Tenko's mind so fast that only two seconds had passed on the timer when she looked at it. The Detective spared a thought to wonder what Kirumi's reaction would be, before looking at the screen and focusing.

The screen had a few words on it:

"Hello, Detective. Choose which one doesn't belong."

And after that he saw row after row of code numbers, all of them in the form of (letter)-(number)(number). One example was M-15.

The timer started going down, and Tenko looked around the screen in vain, searching for some other clue that she could use to solve the mystery. She didn't find anything, nothing that seemed out of place and could be used as a hint. So she changed her focus.

Tenko knew that this was one of the challenge rooms, so it was fairly likely that the whole room was part of the challenge. Tenko looked around herself. The only things of note in that room were the posters depicting groups of people. She examined them closer, looking for patterns.

She didn't have a lot of luck. The groups of people didn't have a consistent ratio of men and women, didn't have a consistent color, didn't have a consistent theme. Some of them were groups of similar people, like soldiers, while others had a variety of people with a diversity of professions. Some included people of similar ages, like a graduation photo, while others had people of disparate ages, like a photo of a family.

Even the angles the photos had been taken from where varied. Some were taken from very close while others from far away, some were taken from the front, while others from above. And while Tenko managed to find a few patterns, she was pretty sure they were coincidental.

And time was passing. Tenko now only had three and a half minutes left to complete the challenge. Fear start creeping up upon her heart, but she forced herself to calm down and think about things from another angle.

She didn't seem to find patterns on the posters, but perhaps it would be possible to relate the posters with the codes on the screen? At that thought, she suddenly had an idea. Tenko looked for the highest number code, and found out that it was C-35.

She looked around the room at the posters, and soon found what she was looking for. The most numerous group of people on any image was a poster of a crowd of people on a street. Counting the people, she found out that there were exactly thirty-five of them.

"Crowd" and "Thirty-Five" = C-35. It seemed to hold up, but Tenko decided to check whether it was a coincidence or not. She looked around and found another poster with a group of twelve soldiers, and turned back to the screens to look at the codes.

In just a few moments, she found it. S-12, which could mean "Soldiers" and "Twelve". Feeling like she was on the right track, she decided to try the opposite direction. Tenko randomly chose one of the codes of the screen (D-18) and looked around the posters to look for something that fit.

After just a bit of search, she found a poster that depicted a group of eighteen dancers, which completely fit the pattern of the D-18. Feeling excited now that she had solved part of the puzzle, Tenko dived into trying to match codes and posters.

She did it fast, using every ounce of concentration she could afford to put into the task. However, Tenko still reserved a tiny bit of attention to look at the timer, and it was that bit of attention that snapped her out of her reverie when there were forty-five seconds left on the timer.

The Detective came to a horrible realization: There were too many posters and codes, and she simply did not have time to match each and every single one of them. Tenko felt an icy grip of panic trying to take hold of her heart. She could not think. She had not idea what to do.

At that time, she remembered the words of her teacher:

'Hyperfocusing is a dangerous habit to have. It makes you unable to pay attention to anything except what you are thinking about.'

And feeling a burst of inspiration, Tenko did the opposite of what she had been taught to do and deliberately hyperfocused on her task.

And suddenly, there was nothing in the world, except her and the question. Tenko didn't feel the cold of the manacle on her arm, she forgot about the looming time limit, and she simply dedicated herself completely to solving the problem.

What hints did she have? Posters and codes. What was the question? Which one doesn't belong. Can you figure out any poster that specially doesn't fit in? No. What else could the question be referring to? Since I'm also in the room, it could refer to me. That would mean the number would be 01, are there any codes with that number? Yes, four of them.

At that point. Tenko's brain entered into a new line of thought. What are those five codes? C-01, T-01, D-01 and U-01. Can you discount any of them based on the posters? No, because there are no posters with only one person. Which of the letters could refer to you? C could be Chabashira, T could be Tenko, D... Wait, the question referred to me as a Detective specifically.

So the answer must be...

Tenko snapped out of her focused state and pressed the D-01. There were only five seconds left on the clock.

The timer stopped and the screen turned black. A moment later, words appeared on the screen:

"CONGRATULATIONS"

Tenko looked at those words, almost unable to comprehend what was going on. Her arm was freed at the same time as her Monopad beeped.

She looked, and saw a message saying that the reward had been added to her account. After that, Tenko got up and left the room, walking slightly unsteadily.

As soon as she left, Tenko came face to face with Kirumi, whose face was full of concern.

"What happened? I couldn't reach you with my messages."

Tenko opened her mouth and began to speak, finding a bit of focus on the act of explaining the situation to Kirumi. She talked about the commander subordinate issue and her thoughts on it, she talked about what the room was like and her experiences on the challenge. She was talking about how she left the room and found Kirumi when she lost control.

Tenko collapsed, emotionally speaking. The whole situation combined with what she had suffered inside the challenge room was simply too much for her. Tenko crouched on the ground and began crying softly, her mind a complete mess.

At some point, Tenko felt arms being wrapped around her shoulders, and then she began to cry loudly, giving freedom to every bit of her emotions. She didn't know how long it took, but eventually Tenko recovered her calm, and managed to say "It's okay."

Kirumi still took a moment to release Tenko from her embrace, and looked at her with concern. The Detective slowly got on her feet and took a deep breath, before managing to give Kirumi a reassuring smile.

The Entomologist seemed relieved, and then she asked Tenko:

"Is there something else you want to talk about?"

"I guess I should look at what I earned with that." Tenko said, and navigated the screen of her Monopad.

Kirumi went to her side to see what was going on. First, Tenko saw that the promised ten thousand Monopoints had been added. Then she went into her "storage" and saw the promised item. It looked like a jigsaw piece, with some designs etched into it, but Tenko felt that she would need more pieces in order to have any idea of what it meant.

"Anything else to do?" Kirumi asked.

Tenko was about to say something, when she saw that it was already dark. She must have been really out of it to not notice, even if they were inside a building.

"It's already late... So I think it's best to go sleep and resume things tomorrow." She said.

Kirumi nodded, seeing the logic in that. The two set up a place and a time to meet (the time based on the time remaining of the individual objectives) and then went together to the dormitories.

The two entered their own rooms, and Tenko fell down on her bed, thinking about everything that had happened in that single day.

Finally, her thoughts turned to Kirumi, and Tenko felt grateful that she had managed to team up with her. She couldn't imagine what it would be like trying to deal with all of that alone.


	5. Safes and Secrets

Tenko woke up on the next day and immediately checked her Monopad, to see if the Team Objective had already been revealed. It hadn't, but there was only one hour and a half left before that happened.

So she left the room and went to the dining hall to see if she could find something to eat, since she was already feeling pretty hungry.

Upon getting there, she found Kaito, who had taken upon himself to provide food for everyone. She also found Kirumi, and joined her on the same table to eat, even though their meeting time hadn't yet arrived.

It was a pretty good time to recover from their stress after all the excitement of the previous day, and Tenko took it gladly, talking to Kirumi about the things they were proudest of being able to do with their talents.

In Kirumi's case, that thing was accurately predicting the existence of a certain bug that parasited certain species of rare ants, based on strange behavioral divergences between otherwise identical individuals from these species. Scientists had later discovered that bug based on her theories.

In Tenko's case, was the time where she found herself involved in a murder plot in the Ukrainian embassy, and she managed to figure out that no murder had actually taken place, and the whole thing was actually a plot by the Russian government to try and get some diplomatic advantage to cover for their malicious acts in Ukraine (that actually occurred just a bit before the Russian Revolution, and may even have influenced it).

Then the food arrived, and Tenko was forced to admit that Kaito was an extremely good cook. Worthy of the title of Ultimate Butler. Kirumi smiled at how reluctant she was towards admitting it.

Time passed fast while they were having their breakfast, and there were only thirty minutes left before the announcement of the Team Objective when they finished.

Since there wasn't much time left, Tenko decided that the best thing to do for them was trying to find out even more about how the game worked.

"I think we should try to figure out how the other challenge types work, since we've only seen puzzle type challenges until now." She said.

"I think that's a good idea." Kirumi said "What do you propose?"

"I think each of us should go find a challenge with a big time limit, one of the 'Task' type and one of the 'Collection' type, because those seem to be the most normal ones." Tenko said "'Game' type challenges mostly require opponents, and the 'Challenge' type ones give me a bad feeling, specially because of their placement." She sighed "Eventually we will have to deal with those too, but it's better to start with the easier ones."

"I understand." Kirumi nodded "In that case, I'll take the 'Collection' type. Collecting bugs is one of my better skills, and it could be useful for that."

"Then I'll take the 'Task' type. Let's meet back here when it's time for the reveal." Tenko proposed.

And so, the two went their separate ways, looking for safes that fulfilled the requirements.

Eventually Tenko found something she considered acceptable:

"Safe #23. Type: Task. Reward for Completion: 2000 Monopoints. Time Allowed: 6 Hours. Punishment for Failure: None. Open?"

Tenko pressed the button yes, and the safe opened. At the same time, her Monopad beeped twice. She looked at it, and saw that there were two new messages. The first was:

"Determine the number of Puzzle Pieces that have already been collected. Type in the number."

And the second was:

"You haven't collected a bingo card yet. Take one from the safe."

Tenko looked inside and saw the "bingo card". It was a paper-thin metal plate which had a grid of squares printed into it, as well as a sensor similar to the ones from the challenge doors. Knowing what it meant, Tenko brought her Monopad up to the card.

"Bingo Card recorded. Fill in the squares to gain special prizes."

Right in front of her eyes, one of the positions on the grid was filled up, and it was actually the center position. There was also another message from the Monopad.

It was a notification of what had just happened, and following it Tenko discovered that the bingo card had been put in her items folder. touching it showed an image of the card, and touching on the filled up square revealed a short line of text.

"Completed a Challenge Door"

The meaning of that was pretty obvious. It seemed like one could fill in the bingo card by completing certain achievements. You could get prizes for filling it up, and probably it wasn't just "fill up everything", but filling up certain lines, columns and diagonals. That would make sense, because having to complete 25 (the total number of squares) achievements to get anything would be too difficult, even if most of them were easier than the one she had.

Tenko wondered if everyone had the same achievements representing the same places in the grid. That would make sense, since it would mean there was another set of valuable information to be traded among the players.

Still, Tenko pocketed the bingo card and decided to focus on the Task.

At first glance, she thought it was far too difficult, since it would mean figuring out the actions of all the other candidates, and the reward simply wasn't worth it. However, she realized that there was another possibility to consider: The chance that she would be able to figure out which Doors had been completed just by checking them.

In fact, it made a lot of sense. That way, this would turn into a simple an easy task which still would give her some important information, and the Monopoints would just be a bonus.

Having made her conjectures, Tenko started heading towards the closest Challenge Door in order to check it. But she was intercepted by Kirumi on the way.

"Did you already get your task?" The Entomologist asked.

Tenko nodded, showing her the task and stating her thoughts on it, and also talking about the Bingo Card.

Kirumi nodded and looked thoughtful upon hearing what Tenko had to say, then she showed what challenge she had chosen.

It was Collection Type as promised. The rest of the features were almost the same as the ones from Tenko's safe, with the only difference being the reward of 3000 Monopoints and the time allotted being only five hours. As for what the challenge itself was:

"Put five different puzzles inside the safe. Then press confirm."

It was pretty straightforward.

"Hmm... This makes me think about how the Collection Type challenges will work. So far, the only physical thing we have access to are those puzzles. Plus, I'm sure there are secrets to those different types of mission that we will only be able to see after completing one." Tenko said.

After that, Tenko went into the forum and looked through the posts. It seemed like no one had bought Kokichi's safe, and there were also two other safes for sale, one from Kaito and the other from Himiko, they were all being sold by the same price.

"Buying those could be a pretty reliable way of finding easy puzzles to complete the challenge." She said to Kirumi.

"Yeah. But I think I'd rather try to get more puzzles myself, to get more information." Kirumi said.

Tenko agreed that it seemed like a good idea.

At that moment, both of their Monopads beeped with a message. Tenko looked at hers, and saw that the Team Objective had finally been revealed.

"Solve the Riddle of the Adamantis Puzzle during the Endgame"

"It looks like you were right." Kirumi said.

"And that also gives us some new information." Tenko pointed out "It doesn't seem like just collecting the Puzzle Pieces is enough, since there's apparently a riddle based around them. Also, there's something called 'Endgame', which I imagine will involve all the students gathered together, so they can share the Puzzle Pieces each of them found."

She sighed "But I imagine that it's not going to be as simple as 'everyone joining forces'."

"You mean that we'll be put against each other even with regards to the Team Objective?" Kirumi asked "But how could this be, if we all need to complete this to survive?"

Tenko's voice was grim "There's nothing to prevent a few people from monopolizing most of the Puzzle Pieces. Everyone needs to have the Riddle completed, but people with puzzle pieces would have an advantage in negotiation. What if they asked for Monopoints or other resources from the people without in exchange for revealing it? This is only the first round, so getting an early advantage is a thought that should have occurred to a lot of people."

Kirumi nodded, seeing the logic in that "So... We now have six days to complete both Individual and Team Objectives."

"We've only started." Tenko said "I bet the game will soon enter into a chaotic phase."

After that, the two separated to check on the Challenge Doors more quickly, and it didn't take long for Tenko to realize that her conjecture had been right.

"Challenge Door #4. Type: Task. Reward for Completion: 1 Student Profile and 10000 Monopoints. Time Allowed: Ten Minutes. Players Allowed: 1. Punishment for Failure: Loss of Sight. Open?"

That door had previously given the fourth puzzle piece along with the Monopoints, but now it was something else (A Student Profile? That was truly something interesting, but she would think about it later), that made it obvious that someone had already come and gotten the puzzle piece.

She kept checking her assigned doors, then went back to meet up with Kirumi again. The two shared their discoveries: It turned out that, besides Door #9, that Tenko had completed, Doors #1, #4 and #15 had also been completed, and their Puzzle Pieces had been taken.

"Those numbers sound familiar..." Tenko said, and focused "... That's right. Those were the Pieces needed to be able to open three special safes. Which must mean..."

She looked at Kirumi, who had already understood what the Detective was getting at. The two left together, going in the direction of a very particular safe: The one which had the requirement of having Puzzle Piece #15 in one's possession to be able to open. Tenko swiped her Monopad next to the scanner of the safe and heard it beep. She looked at it, already pretty sure of what she was going to see.

"This safe is locked. Do you wish to send a request to the owner?"

And it was exactly like she had imagined. She showed the message to Kirumi.

"I imagine the other two will be the same way. Isn't that right?" The Entomologist commented.

Tenko nodded. Then she took a deep breath and started talking:

"And there is another source of concern." She looked at Kirumi "I don't know who got this safe, but do you remember when I sent a message to you."

Kirumi nodded, and then froze.

"Exactly. My name was displayed on your Monopad. That means the owners know the identities of the people who are interested in their safes, and this disparity of knowledge is another form of power in this game." She sighed "Thankfully, this should only happen if I actually sent in a request, so there are no worries about that so far."

Kirumi put her hands behind her back and thought for a bit before speaking:

"You said the situation would become chaotic soon. And it seems like you were right."

Tenko nodded "This is only the beginning."


	6. Strategy

After Tenko's ominous words, Kirumi put a hand to her chin and thought a bit before speaking:

"Do you think we should try to focus on getting more puzzle pieces, then?" She asked, though the idea clearly didn't sit well with her, for obvious reasons.

Tenko wanted to say no immediately, but she forced herself not to. She needed to truly think about it, since her decisions could have deadly consequences. Tenko closed her eyes and tried to consider all the information and theories she had in order to make a decision.

She opened her eyes and spoke "No."

Kirumi didn't respond, and only waited for Tenko to explain her reasoning, and that's what she did:

"From what I can tell, the creators of this game, whoever they were, truly developed the specifics very carefully, and from what Monokuma said, this isn't the first time it's been done, so they would have been able to refine the way it works."

Tenko made circles with a finger, in emphasis "And you can tell from the name of this game that they are very proud of it. They have all those mechanics that can be used... And because of that, I don't believe that they would allow people to win by using such a simple strategy as focusing completely on the puzzle pieces."

Kirumi blinked "That... makes quite a bit of sense."

Tenko nodded "I think the best option would be to try and discover as much as we can about each of the mechanics. There should be lots of secrets, and lots of things that can be exploited. That's the impression I got from everything." She joined her hands "With enough information, we can make plans and adapt better to unexpected situations. That way, even if someone monopolizes the puzzle pieces, which I doubt would actually happen, we would still be able to deal with it."

Kirumi took a deep breath and nodded "In that case, you should complete your Task first, since there should be information to be gained by doing it."

"Right." Tenko agreed.

She opened up the task menu on her Monopad and typed the number 4 as the answer. A beep informed her that she had answered correctly, and Tenko saw that two thousand Monopoints had been added to her account. She also got a message box asking if she wanted to lock the safe, to which she responded yes.

"Is it the same thing as the puzzle safes...?" She wondered out loud.

"Let's go and see." Kirumi decided.

Soon, they were back at the physical location of Safe #23. Kirumi swiped her Monopad onto it, and pressed the button to send a message to "the owner". Tenko's own Monopad beeped, and she looked at the message that appeared on it:

"Kirumi Toujou wants to open Safe #23. Do you want to set a Task?"

'So, it really is different...' Tenko thought, hitting the button for yes.

From there appeared a menu where she could choose which type of tasks she wanted to set. Tenko waved Kirumi over to take a look together, since it seemed like there was quite a lot to it, the two of them proceeded to look over each of the categories.

There was information gathering tasks, in which they would have to bring specific information, like who had certain puzzle pieces, or how many Monopoints a certain person had in their account. There were collection tasks, in which they would have to bring certain items (like cards and the other stuff that seemed to be general, instead of the ultimate-specific stuff). And then there was the safe type, in which they would have to complete a specific safe, the rewards of which would go to the person who set the task.

There was also an option of choosing several tasks at once, but that only meant the other person would have several options for which task to complete. There was no option for making someone have to do more than one task.

"Your theory was right." Kirumi said, after they had finished looking over the rules.

"Yeah. And now I'm wondering about the other types of safes..." Tenko replied.

Kirumi pressed a few buttons on her Monopad, canceling the request.

"I want to know what are the results of this." She said when Tenko looked at her "Nothing seems to be unusual on my side."

Tenko looked at her Monopad again, seeing that the task screen had disappeared. Then she thought of something and started going through the menus, quickly arriving at the info zone inside the "inventory". There, she checked the task history, and soon found what she had been looking for:

"Received a Request to open Safe #23 from Kirumi Toujou. Request Canceled."

Tenko nodded "That's indeed it. Even canceled requests get registered here. Information is truly a big thing in this game."

She showed it to Kirumi, who looked at her own task history and saw that her side of the request had been registered there.

Tenko put a finger to her chin and spoke "I'm pretty sure that task information is going to be a very powerful trade item. This is a lot of useful information."

"Information..." Kirumi muttered "That really seems to be an important part of the game." She smiled at Tenko "I can understand why you chose a strategy based on obtaining information. It is truly well-suited for your specialty."

Tenko blushed slightly "I guess that's right."

"In that case, I should really go and do those other puzzles to find out the secrets behind the collection tasks." Kirumi said "What about you?"

Tenko was trying to decide whether to try one of the Challenge type or Game type safes when her Monopad beeped.

Raising an eyebrow, Tenko checked it and saw that Kaede had sent her a message:

"Hello, Tenko. I have a proposition for you. Could you come meet me behind the second building so we can discuss?"

Tenko showed the message to Kirumi, who also raised an eyebrow and looked back at her, waiting for Tenko's reaction.

"I should go and see what Kaede has in mind." She said.

Kirumi nodded "Then I shall see you soon."

The two left. Kirumi to look for suitable safes and Tenko to go towards Kaede.

+0+

When Tenko arrived at the meeting spot, Kaede was already there, leaning against the wall. She greeted Tenko with a smile and a wave.

"Hello to you too." Tenko smiled back "I am here. What is the proposition you're talking about?"

Instead of answering directly, Kaede asked Tenko a question:

"What do you think is the real essence of this game?"

Tenko thought about how she should answer the question "I think the very name covers it. There are multiple essences, such as information and resources, and I don't think any one of them is more important than the other."

Kaede nodded "That's a nice answer, as expected of you. I have my own ideas about the essence of this game, though." She looked at Tenko with seriousness in her eyes "I feel that the essence of this game is Union. A single person cannot win by themselves, not only because there are team objectives to consider, but also because it is divided into so many elements.

"Each person has their own role in this game, and if they can all work together, there would be no threat, regardless of what the 'Wolf' could do." She shook her head "Of course, that is the whole point. It is not easy to ally oneself with others, due to the very rules of the game. How to resolve this contradiction is the most important question in the Multiplicity Game."

Tenko considered what Kaede was saying "Your idea has merit." Then looked into her eyes "I suppose you must want my cooperation in one of those plans, and that is why you have called me here."

Kaede smiled "That's exactly it. The best case scenario would be if I could get everyone to trust each other. But it is unreasonable to expect that when we barely know each other. So..." She showed an open hand to Tenko "For now, achieving cooperation between the major parties, even if on a limited basis... That would do a lot to make things easier."

"Major parties..." Tenko muttered "That means I'm not the only person you have contacted about this."

"That's right." Kaede confirmed "I have no intention of making this an exclusive group. Eventually, everyone should be connected and helping each other. But for now... There is you and two other people I believed should be part of this: Kokichi and Angie."

"I understand." Tenko said, still trying to consider all the possibilities involved.

"As a show of good faith, I shall give you some information that should help." Kaede said, causing Tenko to focus back on her "It is about the true nature of the Game and Challenge safes."

Tenko nodded, indicating for Kaede to continue.

"Most of the Game safes require opponents. However, a few of them don't need for one to face their opponents directly. You can play a game by yourself, and the next people who challenge that game will have to beat your score to win." She shook her head "If they lose, you will receive their bets, but if they win, they take your place in the game but you don't lose anything else."

"Hmm... This is another point in favor of my theories." Tenko said "And I imagine that even in games where you need the opponent present, one can own the specific safe, and someone else could call them up for a challenge via the safe."

"That's exactly right!" Kaede confirmed, joining her hands together enthusiastically "Now, the Challenge Type safes, and doors, are different from all the others." She raised a finger "You can call them a game within a game. They revolve around all aspects of the Multiplicity game, from the other types of safes, to the items you can obtain, and even to the objectives of the game themselves."

Tenko was reminded of something "Does that mean... You were the one who completed Door #4?" She had specifically mentioned doors, and that one was on the challenge section.

"Yes." Kaede shook her head "In my case, the challenge was to complete my individual objective within three hours, and the punishment for failure would be the loss of my eyes." She shuddered.

"But you did it, huh..." Tenko said.

"Yeah. And if you want to know what that objective was... I'll tell after you've finished yours." She smiled mysteriously.

Tenko sighed. That girl really knew how to get people hooked.

"Your information will definitely be a big help." Tenko said "So I'll hear you out. What is it that you want to ask me?"

"Rantaro is having trouble with his individual objective." Kaede said "He got a pretty nasty punishment for failing one of the Task safes, so I would like it if you were to help him get through that rough patch."

A ridiculous number of alarm bells rang out in Tenko's head all at once, to the point where she had to consciously decide in which thing she should focus first. After a moment of thought, she decided on a question.

"Why is that your request?" Tenko asked straight up.

"Multiple reasons." Kaede raised a finger "One, this is a way to start on my plans for everyone to help each other." Another finger "Two, Rantaro asked me for help, so he will be thankful to me for directing you to him." Yet another "And three, this is something you would want to do yourself, so you should have no objections to doing it."

"I would want to do...?" Tenko asked, thinking about her words.

"I knew about you from before." Kaede said "One of my friends was helped by you. Do you remember Takimura-chan, the girl who was set up to take the fall in the Ukrainian embassy case?"

Tenko nodded, surprised. She had talked about that case very recently with Kirumi.

"That girl was one of my online friends, and she ended up becoming one of the most important hidden figures in the revolution." Kaede said "So I became interested and looked up you and your master, Wachisuko."

So that was it. When Kaede talked about getting her talent, Tenko hadn't thought about the case at the time, but it seemed like they had an indirect connection.

"Your master has the philosophy of using deduction to save people, and from what I've been able to discover, you follow in his footsteps." Kaede explained "That means you wouldn't want anyone here to die." Her voice softened "I also would prefer it if no one died."

Tenko looked at Kaede for a moment, and then spoke "You're right about that. In that case, I'll do it, I'll go see what I can do to help out Rantaro."

"That's great!" Kaede smiled.

After that, Tenko left to see how Kirumi was doing, and thought about Kaede's proposal and her plans.

What would be the consequences of such a strategy?


	7. Task and Punishment

Before going to meet with Rantaro, Tenko decided to tell Kirumi about the meeting, as well as see if she had discovered anything else interesting.

She sent a message via Monopad, and after getting a response, went to meet with her next to the school building.

"Do you have any thoughts about Kaede's proposal?" Was Kirumi's question after Tenko told her what had happened.

Tenko had already expected a question like that, and so was already prepared to answer "It is definitely something that would be a big help in keeping everyone alive, but it can also be abused pretty easily." She started "I don't know Kaede enough to know if she would do that or not, but regardless, I think it would be better to keep an eye on things just in case."

"A very rational approach." Kirumi praised "And also, it's interesting that Kaede mentioned Angie."

"How so?" Tenko asked.

"Because while you were away, Angie actually came to talk to me." Kirumi explained.

"Oh?" Tenko was interested "What did she have to talk about?" She asked.

"A lot of things." Kirumi said with a smile "She was very interested in you, for example." She nodded "Which isn't really anything strange."

"I... guess not?" Tenko said, not quite understanding Kirumi's vague tone.

"Since she was trying to get information from me, I decided that it was only fair for me to return the favor." Kirumi continued, in a more normal tone "She learned about a few of the things you deduced in regards to safes, but I found out that she has gotten Gonta as a subordinate."

Tenko's eyes widened in astonishment "Wow... That's really amazing." She couldn't help but say.

"After that, I think she realized that I wasn't going to say anything easily." Kirumi continued her story "So instead she gave me something weird."

"Weird?" Tenko did the appropriate interjection.

"It was this thing." Kirumi produced something that looked like a card with a small screen on it.

Tenko took it and gave a check "It's definitely weird." She agreed "Did Angie say something when she gave you this?"

"Only that it would be 'useful'." Kirumi replied "Maybe it has something to do with her talent, but I can't be sure."

"The use will probably show itself some time, then." Tenko decided "How are things going with your mission, then?"

"Almost done." Kirumi said.

Tenko nodded "Then I guess I should go and see what I can do for Rantaro." She frowned "I just hope he isn't too annoying."

Kirumi put a finger to her mouth, suppressing a smile "I'm sure you can deal with it. I'll send another message when I'm done, okay?"

"Okay."

And Tenko sent a message to Rantaro, asking where he was.

+0+

Rantaro asked her to meet him at a garden on the west side of the grounds. Tenko remembered that there was a safe on that place, and got the idea that perhaps that had been the safe Rantaro failed. That was something she should ask him.

The place wasn't very far from the school building, so Tenko got there quickly. Rantaro looked exactly the same as the first time she had met him, except that there seemed to be a tenseness in his shoulders she hadn't seem before.

That was expected, of course. Considering his current situation.

"Oh, Tenko. You're here." He said after seeing her.

"I'm here." Tenko replied simply.

Tenko didn't exactly like the current situation, but she had dealt with men a few times during her career. She could do that.

"Before anything else," She spoke before he could say more "I would like you to give me a complete report of everything that happened ever since you decided to challenge one of the safes. Including your reasoning behind every choice."

"A complete report?" Rantaro seemed doubtful.

"Yes. Each and every single detail might be a crucial point, so leave nothing out." Tenko assured him.

"Alright. Let's see..." Rantaro sighed "I suppose I should start with what my individual objective was." He navigated the screens in his Monopad and showed it to her "'solve the clue of the twelve clothing parts', which is a very vague objective, so I was going around, taking a look at the safes when I got to this one, and one of the rewards was 'Ribbon of Amara'." His expression changed to a deep frown "Amara Amami is the name of one of my sisters, and considering that the object mentioned 'twelve clothing parts'... You understand what I thought at the time."

Tenko's eyes widened. That was... certainly something. And it had disturbing implications in regards to the style of the game.

"I couldn't let anyone else get that, so I ended up accepting the mission without even thinking." Rantaro said, with another sigh.

"I can imagine how you felt, but you should know that the same missions have different rewards for each of the participants." Tenko said "But also, could I see the records in your Monopad for a moment? I want to know what was the exact wording of everything related to the mission."

"You can even see something like that?" Rantaro asked, surprised.

"Yes." Tenko confirmed "It's in the items menu, under the information section."

Rantaro nodded and examined his own Monopad, quickly finding what Tenko had mentioned.

"Task history, huh..." He muttered, before handing the Monopad to her.

Tenko looked over what was there. And there actually wasn't much to see. There was the usual initial puzzle safe opening (it didn't mention what the hint gained was, though), and then several task checkings before getting to the first other task that was actually accepted. The exact wording was:

'Safe #42. Type: Task. Reward for Completion: Ribbon of Amara and 10000 Monopoints. Time Allowed: 8 Hours. Punishment for Failure: Monopoint Amount Locked to 0. Open?

Task Accepted.'

"Monopoint amount locked to zero..." Tenko muttered. There were a few things this could mean, and none of them were good.

She kept reading.

'First Task: Collect two items with a combined value of at least 6000 Monopoints. Second Task: Achieve a new record on Game Safe #36. Third Task: Produce a piece of Special Accessory. Fourth Task: Successfully perform an item trade with another player.'

"One of each type..." Tenko muttered to herself.

From there on, there were a few other tasks registered, before the message 'Time Out. Safe #42 Task Failed. Punishment Applied.' before another sequence of task checkings occurred, except that this time, most of them ended with the message 'Safe Unavailable. Player cannot earn Monopoints at this Time.'

Upon seeing that, Tenko looked at Rantaro and spoke "I can see why you'd have trouble with that punishment. Most safes include Monopoints as part of the reward."

He nodded and sighed.

"So..." She started to speak "Help me understand the way things went. Since the second task had a specific target, you decided to go for it first."

"Yeah." Rantaro agreed "It was basically a dumb version of Tetris, called Pyramids. I managed to win the first time I played, but it took two more tries to beat the record."

'So, winning and beating the record are two different concepts in that game. There should be something important to that.' Tenko thought, as she waved for him to keep going.

"I got four thousand Monopoints for beating the game the first time, and I got a few Materials for beating the record." He continued "Materials are the things needed for me to produce clothes in my lab, so I thought I was going on the right track."

"So, the special accessory you needed to make was a piece of clothing, and the items you receive are based on clothing, to keep within the theme of Ultimate Cosplayer." Tenko noted.

He nodded "After that, I went to try and find another quick task I could do to get at least 1500 Monopoints, because with that, I would have enough to simply buy two items from the store to finish the first task."

"And that was the puzzle Safe #53." Tenko noted.

"Yes." Rantaro confirmed "The reward was 2000 Monopoints, so I thought it wouldn't be that hard. And I was right. It was just a 12 X 12 Sudoku variation, which I managed to solve in half an hour."

Rantaro then sighed deeply as he kept speaking "However, when I went to the store, I discovered that I couldn't use it while in the middle of that task.

"So I went all around again, looking for Tasks that would give me items as reward. I got quite a few materials but the task wasn't finished." He sighed "I think it was because since those items were only valuable for me, their monetary value would be zero.

"Still, since I would need Materials for creating the accessory, I decided that it hadn't been a waste of time to do all of that. I went back to the grind, and managed to get two 'Advantage' cards, which cost 4000 Monopoints each.

Tenko had her own ideas about that, but Rantaro didn't seem to be in a mood conductive to discussion.

"With that, another Task was complete. So I went around trying to find someone who would trade with me. But that was difficult, and most people weren't willing to do it." He shook his head "Eventually, I managed to trade with Shuuichi, but by that point, four hours had already passed from when the Task started.

Tenko was starting to see how deceptively difficult that challenge was.

"I went back to my Lab to create the Special Accessory, but then it turned out that I needed specific materials to make it, and while I had most of them, two in particular were still missing, so I went back out to hunt for them.

"And after completing two more safes to get what I needed, another hour was gone, just like that." Rantaro sighed, his composure totally lost by that point "And the biggest joke of all? When I went to make the accessory, which was a scarf, I discovered that despite being able to sew it in seconds, in order to give the effect and make it truly 'complete', I had to wait for a timer, a timer of four hours."

Tenko winced. Rantaro Kept talking.

"And the effect the scarf eventually got when it finished, far too late, was something that would have helped a lot on the other objectives." Rantaro spoke bitterly "It allowed the user to check the basic information of all the safes they had checked on the past three hours, without needing to go around checking them again."

With that, Rantaro fell into silence. Tenko looked at him and thought.

It really didn't matter that he was a man, because Rantaro was someone who truly needed help, and she was going to give it to him. So she turned her mind towards the problem.

Tenko could think of a few possible ways of going around the punishment to complete the Objective anyway. However, that was all they were, possibilities, things that would need to be tested.

It seemed far too difficult and complicated. That would make the punishment way harder than it should have been, based on the listed reward. So, there should be an easier way. And as her thoughts reached that point, an idea formed in her head.

"Rantaro, did you check Safe #42 again?" She asked.

"Huh? Why do that?" He was surprised.

"Because it gave you the punishment, so maybe it could relieve you of it, too." She replied.

Nonplussed, Rantaro went to do so, and after passing his Monopad over the safe, his expression became one of absolute astonishment

"'Reward for Completion: Lifting of Punishment and Ribbon of Amara'." He quoted "'Time Allowed: 4 Hours. Punishment for Failure: None.

So, Tenko's conclusion had been right. The game still followed logic, but she expected that there should be some sort of catch to it. That was confirmed when Rantaro (after Tenko waved him to go forward) accepted the mission.

His face changed into an expression of resignation.

"I knew it was too good to be true after seeing that there was no punishment for failure." He spoke, looking at Tenko "Instead of four Objectives, there's eight."

Tenko wasn't fazed "And they're all the same scale as the previous ones?"

Rantaro nodded.

"Then there's no problem!" Tenko declared, gesturing with her right hand "With some thinking, I believe this is far from impossible!"

Rantaro seemed somewhat surprised by Tenko's sudden change. That was often the case and she was used to it.

"Are you serious?" He asked, hope creeping into his voice.

"Yes." Tenko nodded "Lift your head, Rantaro Amami, for I promise to save you from the jaws of doom!"

At that moment, Tenko thought back to her master. Yes, he really would want her to save the others, so she was going to do her best to achieve it.


End file.
